Statement of Floyd E. Dominy, Commissioner of Reclamation, Before the Subcommittee on Irrigation and Reclamation Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, U.S. Senate on S. 1658

Document: Statement of Floyd E. Dominy, Commissioner of Reclamation, Before the Subcommittee on Irrigation & Reclamation, Committee on Interior & Insular Affairs, U.S. Senate on S. 1658, page 14first appear, since other means are available for improving the overall water situation. Probably the most significant factor is the urbanization of the area. As farmlands within central Arizona are urbanized, the water which is appurtenant to the lands involved becomes available for municipal and industrial purposes. On a per-acre basis, the quantity of water used by urban developments does not exceed the quantity used for irrigation of crops and may be somewhat less. However, large areas of desertlands, which have no irrigation water supply available, are now being urbanized. The water needs of such areas, therefore, must be supplied from new sources. This situation is particularly pronounced in the Tucson area, where practically all urban development takes place over desertlands for which no water supply has heretofore been available. The total needs for municipal and industrial water are, therefore, increasing in central Arizona despite the fact that irrigation water supplies are being converted to municipal and industrial use as the area grows. An important aspect of the urbanization of the area is that approximately one-half of all water diverted for municipal and industrial purposes is returned near the lower end of the developed area as sewage effluent. The Central Arizona Project studies indicate that it is essential that these flows be upgraded and reused to augment the irrigation water supplies. Other compensating means for reducing the imbalance between water supply and water demand include possibilities for conservation of water within the area through construction of impervious linings 14Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 1,030,255 byte